Working UK hours in Thailand around January time - thoughts?

[redrabbit29]

Hi,

My Job

WFH on a small team covering Europe side but with a global team
Technical cybersecurity work
It's easy most of the time but intense when something goes wrong and cliends need help
I have a 40" widescreen, plus a 27" portrait one next to it
Stand up desk
Top end keyboard/mice
I basically have a nice set up for intense/technical and complicated work

Remote Work

I can't stand the UK weather during most of the year with it being dull, wintery, rain, dark, etc. It's more than just annoying to me as it causes a bit of depression and low moods.

I have a job where I can work anywhere - my Director doesn't care.

Locations & Options

Looked at options including:

I thought about Spain initially however, it's quite expensive for what you get. I have a big budget but it's just doesn't seem to stretch far. I also don't know where to go... I've heard mixed things about Malaga/Torremelinos/Balemedina.

Air BnB is also really mixed bag.

Thailand

I then thought about this. I've never been (which may be a silly idea for this reason alone). However the money goes far and I would maybe go for 4-6 weeks, taking 1-2 weeks off within that period.

I'd have to work the afternoon into the evenings due to timezone issues. THere is an element of flexibility but I'd probably still need to be online until 10pm on weekdays, midnight if on-call.

Everyone says Chiang Mai is great for remote workers.

The money, say about £5k gets you a decent place for 4-6 weeks, with pool. Often there's nice big tables to work on, sometimes a desk. Just a really nice setup.

Is this a silly idea?
Are there other considerations I've not thought of? (not worried about tax issues, it's a relatively short period and I've looked into it and it's just not an issue for this period).

Thanks

[redrabbit29]

Thanks everyone, this has been incredibly helpful. I've decided to go ahead with the plan and have booked two weeks off from work around January-February.

This will allow me to work remotely there, but also have some time off between.

I don't think working into the evening will be an issue in terms of tiredness. I already have sleep issues and cope as my job is very flexible. For example, I can work later in the evening now, or start earlier, delay work sometimes if it's not on a deadline and manage my own schedule.

I'll look into the visa and insurance too. From looking across other forums there's very little issue for the shorter time periods that I am talking about.

Need to look at location as I hadn't considered Bangkok simply as I continued to see Chaing Mai come up repeatedly. The only consideration here is that I'll be on my own most of the time, so going out very late may not be that appealing.

Costs

My budget was probably higher than some expected as I was originally looking at Europe which is really pricey in comparison.

I definitely don't want to be contained in an apartment all day working with no light, no outside space, no access to a pool.
It's a working break and as I would have free time all day long, it would be great to have access to my own facilities - maybe not private pool but something nearby.

[redrabbit29]

Collectingbrass said:

Your employer's tax advisors will have something to say

I won't tell them and don't really care - everyone does it and it's for 4-6 weeks and 30% of that will be holiday time.

It's a global company. We travel to client sites all the time with nothing official.

Same for GDPR. We work on projects of all types.